Tooth Color Measurement LJsiiig Cliroina Meter:

Techniques A ({vantages a i d Disa dvaiitages

ABSTRACT
Tooth whitening has become a popular and routine dental procedure, and its efficacy and safety
have been well documented. However, the measurement of tooth color, particularly in the evalua-
tion of the efficacy of a system intended to enhance tooth whiteness, remains a challenge. One of
the instruments used for assessing tooth color in clinical whitening studies is the Minolta Chroma
Meter CR-32 1 (Minolta Corporation USA, Ramsey, NJ, USA). This article describes the instrument
and discusses various measuring procedures and the Chroma Meter's advantages, limitations, and
disadvantages. The available information indicates that, although Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321
provides quantitative and objective measurements of tooth color, it can be tedious to use with a
custom alignment device. The Chroma Meter data are inconsistent with the commonly used visual
instruments such as Vitapan Classical Shade Guide (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Sickingen, Germany),
although in many cases the general trends are similar. It is also questionable whether the small area
measured adequately represents the color of the whole tooth. A more critical challenge is the lack of
methods for interpreting the Chroma Meter data regarding tooth color change in studies evaluating
the efficacy of whitening systems. Consequently, at present the Chroma Meter data alone do not
appear to be adequate for determining tooth color change in whitening research, although the
quantitative measurements may be useful as supplemental or supportive data. Research is needed
to develop and improve the instrument and technique for quantitative measurement of tooth
color and interpretation of the data for evaluating tooth color change.
CLINICAL. SIGNIFICANCE
This paper will help readers to understand the advantages and limitations of the Minolta Chroma
Meter used for evaluating the efficacy of tooth-whitening systems so that proper judgment can be
made in the interpretation of the results of clinical studies.

(1Esthet Restor Dent 15: S33-S41, 2003)

T oath whitening has been a den-

tal procedure for more than
100 years; liowever, few scientific
demonstrated the efficacy of perox-
ide-based whiteners, and their
safety, when used properly, is con-
ing the course of whitening treat-
ment, remains limited.

research efforts had been made
until 1989 when Haywood and
Heymann published their paper
that first introduced at-home tooth
whitening.I The accumulated data
from clinical studies has
sidered adequate on the basis of
comprehensive laboratory and clini-
cal investigations.14 However,
research on tooth color measure-
ment, particularly the color change
or shade reduction that occurs dur-
The chromatometer (or chromo-
meter), particularly the Minolta
Chroma Meter (Models CR-221 or
CR-32 1, Minolta Corporation
USA, Ramsey, NJ, USA), is one of
the instruments commonly used ini-
 T O O T H COLOR M E A S U R E M E N T U S I N G CHROMA M E T E R : T E C H N I Q U E S . ADVANTAGES.
AND D I S A D V A N T A G E S

tially (and until recently) for objec-
tive measurement of tooth color and
evaluation of whitening efficacy in
clinical s t ~ d i e s .This
~ ? ~article reviews
the working mechanisms of the
Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321,
clinical measurement procedures,
advantages, limitations, and disad-
vantages, and its proper use for
evaluating the efficacy of tooth-
whitening systems.
THE INSTRUMENT: CHROMA
METER A N D COLORZMETER
The Chroma Meter is a colorimeter.
There are two types of colorime-
ters: those that measure concentra-
tion of a colored solution with
reference to standards, and those
that measure colors of a surface by
comparison with standards. The
later type of colorimeter has been
used for measuring tooth color.
and discussion to the Minolta
Chroma Meter CR-321.
As shown in Figure 1, the Minolta
Chroma Meter CR-321 consists of
a measuring head and an instru-
ment panel. It is designed to mea-
sure small areas of glossy surfaces.
The aperture provides a measuring
area of 3 mm in diameter, with 45"
circumferential illumination by
30 optical fibers and 0" viewing
geometry (Figure 2).'
The Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321
uses the tristimulus color-sensing
method, which is based on the
three-component theory of color
vision by human eyes, as its work-
ing mechanism (Figure 3). Accord-
ing to this theory, color receptors
of human eyes sense three primary
colors: red, green, and blue, and
all colors are perceived as mixtures
of these three primary colors. The
Commission Internationale de
I'Eclairage (CIE) defined the stan-
dard observer in 1931 to have the
color-matching functions of x(h),
y(h), and z(h). The XYZ tristimulus
values are calculated with the stan-
dard observer color-matching func-

In the literature the term Chroma

Meter, which is used by Minolta,
is interchangeable with chromato-
Figure 1. Minofta Chroma Meter Model CR-321.
meter. Although several specialized
colorimeters, such as ShadeEye@
(Shofu Dental Co., San Marcos,
CA, USA), Shadescan@(Cynovad
Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada),
and Shadevision@(X-Rite Inc.,
Grandville, MI, USA), have become
available during recent years, they
are designed mainly for dental prac-
titioners and thus have rarely been
used for research purposes. So far
the majority of published studies
have involved the use of the Minolta
Chroma Meter, either CR-221 or Figure 2. Diagram of the longitudinal section of the measur-
CR-321, which has essentially the ing head of Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321 showing the aper-
ture (3 mm in diameter) with 45" circumferential illumination
same working mechanisms. There- and 0" viewing geometry. Reproduced and modified with per-
fore, this article limits the review mission from Konica Minolta Photo Imaging USA, Inc.

s34 IOURNAL OF ESTHETIC A N D RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY

 LI

CR-221 or CR-321-either with or

without a custom alignment device.
The purpose of using a custom
alignment device is to ensure accu-
racy and precision by measuring the
same surface area of each tooth at
each appointment.

Figure 3. Schematic illustration of the tristimulus color- Various types of alignment devices
sensing method used for Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321 have been used. Figure 5 shows a
(lower) compared with the color-perception process of
human eyes (upper). Reproduced and modified with per- typical custom alignment device
mission from Konica Minolta Photo Imaging USA, Inc. that consists of a jig and a shield.
Owing to smaller sizes of mandibu-
tions. For better visualization of the the numeric definition of a color as lar teeth, it is common to measure
color defined by the XYZ tristimu- well as the difference between two the labial surfaces of the six maxil-
lus values, the CIE also developed colors, as illustrated in Figure 4. lary anterior teeth (nos. 6, 7, 8, 9,
in 1931 a Yxy color space, in which The color difference is calculated 10, and 11).Using a study model
Y is the lightness and x and y are using the following formula: prepared from an alginate impres-
the chromaticity coordinates deter- sion, the custom alignment jig with
AE*& =
mined from the XYZ tristimulus full palatal coverage is fabricated.
[(AL*)2+(Aa")2+(Ab")2]1'2
values. The XYZ tristimulus values The jig is constructed of a visible
and yxY color space are the faun- MEASUREMENT OF T O O T H C O L O R light-polymerized material, in
dation of the currently used CIE USING M I N O L T A C H R O M A M E T E R which are embedded individually
color spaces, including the L"a".b'" There have been two methods aligned female dual-pin sleeves
color space, or CIELAB.' Details on reported for measuring tooth color corresponding to each tooth to be
color theories and various color using the Minolta Chroma Meter measured. To fabricate the cus-
spaces are discussed elsewhere in
this publication.'

The Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321

is capable of expressing a color in
various parameters, but the L"a'"b"
values have been used exclusively in
tooth-whitening research, probably
owing to their popularity in virtu-
ally all fields of color measurement.
The L" value ranges from 0 to 100
and increases with the lightness of
the color. The +a'" and -a" indicate
the red and green directions, respec-
tively, and the +b" and -b" point to
the directions of yellow and blue Figure 4. Coordinates of two colors (A and B) in the
CIELAB color space and the formula for determining their
colors, respectively. With the coor- difference (AE *nb). Reproduced and modified with permis-
dinates, the L''a"b" system allows sion from Konica Minofta Photo Imaging USA, Inc.

VOLUME 15, SUPPLEMENT I , 2003 535

 TOOTH COLOR M E A S U R E M E N T U S I N G CHROMA M E T E R : T E C H N I Q U E S . A D V A N T A G E S .
AND D I S A D V A N T A G E S

ing of the Chroma Meter aperture,

its fabrication and clinical measur-
ing processes are tedious and time
consuming. The disinfection and
storage of the alignment device
between appointments also present
a challenge. Consequently, attempts
have been made to conduct the
measurements of tooth color using
the Chroma Meter without a cus-
tom alignment device, by the hand-
held method.1° The aperture of the
Chroma Meter head is directly
placed at the middle of the tooth
to take the measurement.

The hand-held method is simple to

use, but little information is avail-
able regarding the accuracy and pre-
Figure 5. A custom alignment device for use with the Minolta cision of the data. As the color of a
Chroma Meter CR-322. A, An acrylic shield for head aper-
ture with a male dual-pin and an alignment jig with six dual- tooth is not uniform, it is important
pin female sleeves and the model. B, An assembled custom to determine the effect of any devia-
alignment device illustrating clinical measurement with the tions on the L"a"b" measurements
Chroma Meter.
and, consequently, the calculated
AEOab value. A study conducted in
tomized acrylic shield that fits on device, the device and the surface this laboratory found that the verti-
the head of the Chroma Meter, a of each tooth, the device and the cal deviations are more critical than
male dual-pin that matches the Chroma Meter aperture head, and are the horizontal ones.'l Ten
female sleeve is embedded in the the aperture and tooth surface. An extracted human maxillary central
shield. The pin-sleeve sets are posi- ill-fitted alignment device, if unde- incisors with no caries, stain, or
tioned such so that the aperture tected, provides a false sense of restoration were selected. The root
of the measurement head of the repositioning and adversely affects of each tooth was embedded in den-
Chroma Meter is in direct contact the accuracy of the measurements. ture resin. Seven positioning devices
with the middle third of the labial In addition, the measurement taking were fabricated so that the aperture
surface of the tooth and centered needs to follow the recommended of the Minolta Chroma Meter CR-
mesiodistally. This provides repeat- procedures such as repositioning 321 would be placed at seven
able alignments of the position of the aperture for each of the three defined labial surface areas of the
the Chroma Meter head aperture to measurements for each tooth. Com- tooth, including the center, 1 mm
the tooth during each measurement. plete fitting of the aperture to the deviations to the apical, incisal, left
shield and tooth surface must be and right, as well as 2 mm to the
It is imperative that each custom ensured for each measurement. apical and incisal. In addition, mea-
alignment device be examined surements were performed at the
before its use to check the clinical Although a custom alignment center of each tooth with the hand-
fitting between the parts of the device provides repeatable position- held positioning method. Three

S36 J O U R N A L OF ESTHETIC A N D RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY

measurements were made for each
position on each tooth by reposi-
tioning the aperture for each mea-
surement. All measurements were
made with a black background, and
care was taken to avoid dehydra-
tion of the teeth during the mea-
surements. The results showed that
t h e ~ L : : .Aa :. , and Ab" values were
, ,
higher for vertical deviations than
for horizontal ones (Table 1).The
variations for the hand-held group
were similar to those for the 1 mm
apical deviation, except for Ab".
The AE"-.l~,values were 1.20 for
right and left horizontal deviations,
1.72 and 2.01 for I mm apical and
incisal vertical changes, respec-
tively, 3.04 and 2.99 for 2 mm api-
cal and incisal vertical changes,
respectively, and 1.41 for the hand-
held group. Significant differences
( p c .05) were detected in L"
values in all deviations compared
with the center, except for the 1
mm right deviation. The data are
generally in agreement with a study
using a spectrophotometer in
which the AE:'.3~,error caused by a
vertical deviation of 2 mm was
3.67 times that induced by a 5 mm
take particular precautions in inter-
preting the data.
ADVANTAGES AND LIM1TATIONS Ot
U S I N ( ; M I N O I . T A C H R O M A Mt.TER
FOR T O O T H C O I O R ASSESSMENT
Minolta Chroma Meters, including
the CR-321, have been used in
various industries, such as ceramic,
food, paint, plastic, printing, and
textile, for color measurement.
The major advantage of using the
Minolta CR-321 Chroma Meter is
the production of objective and
quantitative data. When used prop-
erly, the Chroma Meter provides
standardized measuring conditions
and thus eliminates a number of
factors, such as variations in light-
ing and human color perception,
that can significantly affect the
accuracy of the color assessnient.i.3
However, the Minolta Chroma
Meter CR-321 was not designed for
assessing tooth color, particularly
in a clinical setting. The measuring
device, which is bulky and heavy, is
difficult to hold by hand, particu-
TABLE 1. EFFECT OF DEVIATIONS OF APERTURE FROM THE MIDDLE OF
EXTRACTED H U M A N CENTRAL INCISORS O N AL*, Aa*. A b * , AND 4E*.b.
la-ly when i t I S necess'iry to cissess
a large number of participants. In
addition, the cone-shaped measur-
ing head prevents proper contact of
the aperture to the surface of inis-
aligned teeth. Proper contact of the
aperture to the surface o f cuspids
may also be difficult to achieve
because of their position and curva-
ture of the labial tooth surface. In
dddition, only the color of a small
area (7.07 mml), which is c 10%
of the labial surface area for '1 typi-
cal inaxillary central incisor, IS
measured; thus, the measurements
hardly represent the color of a
wr h o 1e tooth .
The major limitation or disadvan-
tage of using the Chroma Meter for
tooth-whitening assessment is the
lack of an established standard
method to correlate the L"., a;'., and
b:'. values, particularly the AL",
ha::.,~ b : >a ,nd AEBal,, to tooth color
change, making interpretation of
data difficult. There are inconsis-
tencies in color ranking between

horizontal deviation. I' Deviation from

Cente2 AL* Aa* Ab* AE..~

Because the deviations of tooth area

1 mm left 0.32 i 0.76 0.03 * 0.22 -0.38 i 0.96 1.20 * 0.48
measured by the Chroma Meter, 1 mm right 0.02 i 1.18 0.03 i 0.10 -0.44 i 0.96 1.20 i 0.96
particularly for vertical deviations, Hand-held -0.73 2 0.96 -0.05 i 0.11 -0.13 i 1.03 1.41 i 0.62
can significantly affect the reliabil- 1 mm apical 0.70 i 0.88 0.05 2 0.22 1.39 i 0.68 1.72 i 0.84
ity of the data, the use of a custom 1 mm incisal -1.03 * 1.20 0.12 2 0.21 -1.12 i 1.19 2.01 = 0.99
alignment device is preferred. When 2 mm incisal -1.91 2 1.59 0.17 * 0.37 -1.50 * 1.72 2.99 2 1.51
the Chroma Meter measurements 2 mm apical 0.97 1.99 0.07 i 0.24 2.29 i 0.75 3.04 1.10
are obtained using the hand-held Adapted from Ma J et al."
method, it is important to recognize 'Measured using the Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321.
tN = 10; three measurementswere made for each tooth at each location, with reposirioningfor
the potential errors associated with each measurement.
SMeans and SDs were calculated from the t i E * a h values obtained from each of the 10 teeth.
the method, and it is advisable to

V O I IIMt 17. \LIPPLEMENT I , 2 0 0 1 S37

 T O O T H COLOR M E A S U R E M E N T U S I N G CHROMA M E T E R : T E C H N I Q U E S . ADVANTAGES.
AND D I S A D V A N T A G E S

Minolta Chroma Meter measure- Nevertheless, the results obtained among shade tabs of equal differ-
ments and shade guides. The most from human panelists appear more ence in numeric value. Whereas the
commonly used shade guide in clin- clinically relevant because the 16 Vitapan Classical shade tabs are
ical tooth-whitening research is the major outcome of tooth-whitening known not to be spaced evenly
Vitapan Classical (Vita Zahnfabrik, treatment is the reduction of tooth when arranged on basis of their
Bad Sickingen, Germany), which shade (ie, the increasing whiteness) lightness or value, they have custom-
consists of 16 shades and may be as perceived by human eyes. arily been assigned to consecutive
arranged by value from lightest numeric values for data compilation
( B l ) to darkest (C4) as per manu- Another problem that further exac- and analysis (see Table 2). As is
facturer’s instructions (Table 2). erbates the difficulties in interpret- illustrated in Figure 6, for one
However, this value-based ranking ing the Minolta Chroma Meter shade difference in Vitapan Classi-
is not parallel to the L’> measure- data regarding clinical efficacy of cal, AE“;,i, can vary from 1.97 (C2
ments, which represent the value in tooth whiteners is that the AE“,i, vs D4) to 4.88 (D2 vs A2); for two-
the CIELAB color space, deter- values, which are intended to quan- shade differences, the variation of
mined using the Minolta Chroma tify the difference of two colors the AE“,,i, ranges from 0.92 (B2 vs
ihleter CR-321 (see Table 2).14Only and are calculated using the three- A2) to 6.65 (A1 vs D2). Clearly, the
two (D3 and C4) of the 16 shades dimensional L”., a ” , and b” mea- numeric Vitapan Classical shade
have a matching ranking. The devi- surements, vary significantly changes are not parallel to the
‘ition between the two rankings can
be as large as seven shades: D4 has
T A B L E 2. C O M P A R I S O N OF V A L U E - B A S E D S H A D E R A N K I N G
the eighth ranking on the value- T O T H A T D E T E R M I N E D BY L’ M E A S U R E M E N T S O B T A I N E D
hased Vitapan Classical Shade FROM CHROMA METER.
Guide, whereas it is the fifteenth Value-BasedV i p a n Minoha Chroma
ranking according to the L” values. Classical Shade Ranking Meter L* hhSUrem8nt
Shade Tab Numeric Numeric L*
I t is of interest that, compared with
the ranking by the L“. values, per- B1 1 4 55.18
sonal color perception matches bet- A1 2 1 58.58
ter with the value-based ranking of B2 3 2 55.44
Vitapan Classical shade tabs.’” The D2 4 9 51.99
arrangements of the randomized 16 A2 5 3 55.30
Vita shade tabs by 402 panelists on c1 6 5 53.43
the basis of their perception of c2 7 12 50.78
“whiteness” had 8 shades matching D4 8 15 49.45
the recommended value-based rank- A3 9 6 53.37
ing, including the “whitest” ( B l )
D3 10 10 51.38
and the “darkest” (C4) extremes;
B3 11 7 53.10
the greatest deviation was three
A3.5 12 11 51.29
shades (Table 3). The value-based
I34 13 8 52.41
ranking of 26 Vitapan Classical
shades is known to be nonlinear in c3 14 13 49.89
terms of the “whiteness” of their A4 1s 14 49.86
tabs; it thus does not represent a c4 16 16 47.28
true incremental increase in white- +Asmeasured with a Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321; data from Li Y
et aL’4
ness or darkness of the tooth color.
 T A B L E 3 . C O M P A R I S O N OF V A L U E - B A S E D S H A D E R A N K I N G the shade guide, a visual instrument,
T O T H A T PREFERRED BY A G R O U P OF S T U D Y P A N E L I S T S . and the Minolta Chroma Meter, an
Value-Based Vitapan Ranking by
electronic instrument, is not unex-
Classical Shade Ranking 402 Panelists'
Shade Tab Numeric Numeric Shade l a b pected. As stated by Carsten, "The
I 1 B1
complexity of the visual system pre-
B1
cludes complete dependence on
A1 2 2 A1
electronic shade matching in the
B2 3 6 c1
near future." Carsten believes that
D2 4 3 B2
"until this equipment can produce a
A2 5 4 D2 result that rivals the abilities of the
c1 6 5 A2 eye and visual cortex to interpret
c2 7 9 A3 light, learning to accurately shade
D4 8 10 D3 match with eyes will remain an
A3 9 7 c2 important task for discriminating
D3 10 8 D4 dentists and patients."13
B3 11 11 B3
A3.5 12 12 A3.5 Interpretation of statistical differ-
B4 13 13 B4 ences detected in the L", a", and b'*
c3 14 14 c3 measurements to clinical significance
of whitening efficacy is a challenge,
A4 15 15 A4
particularly when the shade data are
c4 16 16 c4
not available. Owing to the nature of
tData from Buisson JC et al.Is
the data, the quantitative L", a", and
b" measurements tend to provide a

AE"ab values. This discrepancy may

have contributed to the divergent
relationship between the numeric
Vitapan shade reduction and the
AE:'ah values observed in some
tooth-whitening studies. A recent
article reported a reduction of 6.49
Vitapan Classical shades and a
AE:i value of 13.82 at the 7-day
evaluation; a shade reduction of
7.72 was detected at 14 days, but
the AE"ah became 7.23, which is
only 52.3% of the AE"ab value at 7
days.Ib Another study showed a
generally similar trend between the
Vitapan Classical shade reductions
and the AE::-,~data; however; rever- Figwe 6. Vitapan Classical Shade Guide arranged according to the value of
the tabs and examples of AE;'*b values for one (upper) and t w o (lower) shade
sals were also observed (Figure 7).b differences calculated from L *, a *, and b * measurements obtained from the
The inconsistency in results between Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321. Data from Lr Y e t aL6

VOLUME 15, SUPPLEMENT 1 , 2003 S39

 TOOTH COLOR M E A S U R E M E N T U S I N G CHROMA M E T E R : T E C H N I Q U E S . A D V A N T A G E S .
AND D I S A D V A N T A G E S

teeth decreased with smaller-size

Figtire 7. Com-
parison of Vita-
pail Classical
shade reduc-tioii
(see F i p r e h for
numeric conver-
sion) to AE"%,i,
viilues ohtairicd
from the same
groicp of s t ~ d y
panelists. Data
f r o m Li Y rt 01."
greater statistical power to detect
the significance at relatively smaller
differences. However, the clinical
relevance of these statistically signif-
icant differences is unclear. The cer-
tainty of the statistical significance
is further discounted by the clinical
discrepancies in the color ranking as
well as the color spacing within and
hetween the Vitapan Classical and
Minolta Chroma Meter measure-
ments. Clearly, the interpretation of
statistics of Chroma Meter results
without shade data needs to be done
extremely cautiously, especially when
the clinical efficacy of two tooth-
whitening systems is compared.
It is of interest that there appear
to be marked differences in the
L ::. a :. alld b :t values of tooth mea-
3 ,
capable of generating the same
parameters. In general, the L"., a;',
and b" values of tooth measure-
ments obtained from the Minolta
Chroma Meter CR-321 tend to be
lower than those obtained with
other systems (Table 4). Theoreti-
cally, the measurements should be
the same for the same color as they
are all based on the three-dimen-
sional coordinates of the CIELAB
color space. One of the piausible
factors that may contribute to this
difference is the small ( 3 mni in
diameter) measurement aperture of
the Minolta Chroma Meter CR-
321. A study using a spectropho-
tometer and a spectroradiometer
found that the L"., a':., and b" val-
ues obtained from extracted human
measuring windows." The LA':.
measurements were 54.32, 49.41,
and 47.61 for windows diameters
of 5 , 4, and 3 mm, respectively. The
trend for a:' and b:" measurements
was similar, indicating that tooth
color measurements using a small
window tend to shift toward green
and blue color coordinates in the
CIELAB color space. The authors
suggested that these shifts are
caused by the wavelength-depen-
dent edge loss. Although the applic-
ability of these spectrophotometric
data to the Minolta Chroma Meter
is unclear, it appears that a larger
measuring aperture is desirable not
only because of the possible influ-
ence of wavelength-dependent edge
loss on the shift of measurement in
color coordinates but also because,
clinically, the whole labial surface o f
the tooth is perceived for its color.
Consequently, the limitations or
disadvantages of using Minolta
Chroma Meter CR-32 1 for evaluat-
ing tooth-whitening efficacy are
caused by a combination of complex
and unique factors. Quantitative
assessment of the efficacy o f whiten-

surements obtained from the

T A B L E 4 . C O M P A R I S O N O F R A N G E S O F L'. a ' , A N D b'
Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321 M E A S U R E M E N T S OF H U M A N T E E T H 1
compared with other systems, such Minolta CR-321 Other Instruments'
as other colorimeters (eg, ShadeEye Parameter Low High Low High
and Shadevision), spectrophoto- L* 40 60 65 75
meters (eg, Easyshade@,Vident, a* -1.5 0.5 -1.5 10
Brea, CA, USA; and SpectroShade b' 2 12 12 23
System@, M H T International,
+Measuredusing Minolta Chroma Meter CR-321 and compared with
Zurich, Switzerland), and digital the same parameters determined with other instruments.
*Examplesindude other colorimeters (eg, ShadeEye and ShadeVi-
imaging system (Procter & Gamble, sion), spectrophotometers ( Easyshade and Specaoshade), and digi-
tal imaging system (seetext% details).
Mason, OH, USA), that are also

540 IOURNAI OF ESTHETIC A N D R E 5 T O R A T I V E DFNTISTRY

ing systems requires not only accu-
racy and precision of the color mea-
surements but also standardized
methods to correlate the quantitative
data to tooth color changes that are
linear, evenly spaced, and perceiv-
able by human eyes. The ultiinate
challenge to achieve this goal may
be not only the color measurement
of tooth but also the method to
determine tooth color change or
shade reduction mainly in the direc-
tion from darkness to whiteness
after a whitening treatment.
CON C. 1. IJSI 0 N
The Minolta Chroma Meter
CR-32 1 provides objective and
quantitative data for color mea-
surements. However, its use for
tooth color measurement is techni-
cally sensitive and can be tedious
when used with a custom align-
ment device; also, the data are
inconsistent with that of the
Vitapan Classical Shade Guide and
other electronic instruments. A
more critical challenge is the lack
of methods for interpreting the
Chroma Meter data to tooth color
change in studies evaluating the
efficacy of whitening systems.
Research efforts are needed to
develop and improve instruments
suitable for tooth color measure-
ment as well as to define the
clinical relevance of Chroma
Meter measurements. Although
the use of the Minolta Chroma
Meter without an alignment device
offers several advantages, limited
data are available to support its
validity. Additional research is
necessary to determine whether
the accuracy and precision of the
method is acceptable.
In conclusion, with current instru-
ments and techniques, the Minolta
Chroma Meter CR-321 alone does
not appear to be adequate for
determining tooth color change in
whitening studies, although the
quantitative measurements may be
useful as supplemental or support-
ive data. Research is needed t o
develop and improve the instru-
ment and technique for quantitative
measurement of tooth color and
interpretation of the data for evalu-
ating tooth color change.
DISC1 OSURF, A N D
A C K N 0 W 1.E D G M E N T S
I would like to thank the faculty
and staff of the Clinical Research
Program and Biocompatibility and
Toxicology Research Laboratory,
Loma Linda University School of
Dentistry, for their contributions
to the data used in this paper, and
Robin Lavengood, BS, of Konica
Minolta Photo Imaging USA Inc.
for the information on the Chroma
Meter CR-321.
The author has no financial interest
in any of the companies with prod-
ucts mentioned in this article.
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